A Critical Rhetorical Analysis of Sophia Wallace's Cliteracy Campaign
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South Dakota State University Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2015 Cliteracy and Justice For All : A Critical Rhetorical Analysis of Sophia Wallace’s Cliteracy Campaign Vanessa Condon South Dakota State University Follow this and additional works at: https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd Part of the Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, and the Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons Recommended Citation Condon, Vanessa, "Cliteracy and Justice For All : A Critical Rhetorical Analysis of Sophia Wallace’s Cliteracy Campaign" (2015). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1659. https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/1659 This Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CLITERACY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL: A CRITICAL RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF SOPHIA WALLACE’S CLITERACY CAMPAIGN BY VANESSA CONDON A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Science Major in Communication Studies & Journalism South Dakota State University 2015 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I usually do not run out of words, but I am speechless with gratitude. This thesis is brought to you by so many more people than me. I specifically want to thank my department, my committee, my cohort, my forensics team, and my family. To my department: you saw more in my researching abilities than I did. I came to SDSU and the Communication Studies and Theatre department made sure that I found a home, as well as a passion for instruction. Thank you to each person who helped guide my study, read my research, and helped me discover a world of communication. Secondly, to my committee: you expanded my vision and made me have fun while having epiphanies. Thank you for your tireless commitment to the process. Sue Klemp and Melissa Wuellner: I am so grateful for your time and insights. Becky Kuehl: you have transformed me as a scholar. Your intelligence and investment in me is the reason I graduated from this program. Thank you for never losing hope in me. Third, to the other Graduate Teaching Assistants: you kept me sane. Thank you for helping me discover pizza scarf, rides, drag queens, and sushi. You are my rock. To Andrea Carlile and the Jackrabbit forensics team: I already miss you. You gave me faith in my abilities as a coach, newfound confidence, and you each have deepened my love for this activity. Never stop fighting. Finally, to my family: this is in dedication to you. RoxAnne Condon: the amount you believe in me is out of control. Thank you. My growth came from those who raised me. At five years old, my grandfather taught me that to fix a bike you need elbow grease. That comment went a little farther than the curb of his driveway. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... vi ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... viii I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................1 Statement of the Problem .............................................................................2 Background of the Problem .........................................................................3 Definition of Terms......................................................................................7 Description of the Artifact .........................................................................10 Justification ................................................................................................15 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ..............................................................................................20 Audience ....................................................................................................21 Rhetor .........................................................................................................26 Purpose .......................................................................................................33 III. CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE ........................................................................................37 Feminist Rhetorical Theory .......................................................................37 Materialist Theory ......................................................................................46 Social Movement Criticism .......................................................................50 Overall Justification and Fit to the Rhetorical Artifact ..............................57 Limitations .................................................................................................58 IV. RHETORICAL ANALYSIS .......................................................................................60 Feminist Analysis.......................................................................................60 Materialist Analysis ...................................................................................75 Social Movement Analysis ........................................................................86 V. DISCUSSION ...............................................................................................................95 Review of Texts and Research Questions ..................................................95 Conclusions and Implications ....................................................................96 Limitations of the Study...........................................................................108 v Future Studies ..........................................................................................109 Summary ..................................................................................................110 References ................................................................................................111 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Cliteracy: 100 Natural Laws ...............................................................................11 Figure 2. Wallace and the 100 Natural Laws .....................................................................11 Figure 3. Wallace and her street art ...................................................................................12 Figure 4. Billboard .............................................................................................................12 Figure 5. Person riding the golden clitoris .........................................................................13 Figure 6. Wallace and Thomas at the Clit Rodeo ..............................................................13 Figure 7. Street art..............................................................................................................25 Figure 8. Spray paint street art ...........................................................................................25 Figure 9. Truer ...................................................................................................................28 Figure 10. Berlin Lookbook ...............................................................................................28 Figure 11. Modern Dandy ..................................................................................................29 Figure 12. On Beauty .........................................................................................................29 Figure 13. Clit Rodeo collective ........................................................................................61 Figure 14. Natural Law No. 38 ..........................................................................................63 Figure 15. Take your virginity Natural Law ......................................................................65 Figure 16. Penetrate yourself Natural Law ........................................................................65 Figure 17. Girls know more Natural Law ..........................................................................65 Figure 18. Visual depictions Natural Law .........................................................................66 Figure 19. Want to have sex Natural Law .........................................................................67 Figure 20. The vagina walls Natural Law ..........................................................................69 Figure 21. The female spotted hyena Natural Law ............................................................69 Figure 22. The Clit Rodeo advertisement ..........................................................................69 Figure 23. Whitney Museum Intervention clitoris cover up ..............................................70 Figure 24. If the clitoris Natural Law ................................................................................70 Figure 25. There is no lack Natural Law ...........................................................................70 Figure 26. Sleeping on the clit Natural Law ......................................................................70 Figure 27. Natural Law No. 31 ..........................................................................................71